Azam Khan says familial bond with Akhilesh spans generations; SP chief shares emotional post

Lucknow, Nov 7 (PTI) Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Friday described his relationship with party president Akhilesh Yadav as one that goes beyond politics, calling it a family bond nurtured over half a century. Speaking to PTI Videos after meeting Yadav at his residence in Lucknow, Khan said, "My relationship with this home is 50 years old, which is half a century. It would take years to weaken, and centuries to break. I may not have centuries left, but this bond continues with the next generation." He added, “If ever a little rust gathers on it, I will clean it myself; no one else is needed.” Emphasising his continued association with the party, the former Uttar Pradesh minister said, "We have already endured immense pain and injustice in life; there can hardly be more. Having withstood all of that, why should we part ways now?" Khan's son and former MLA Abdullah Azam, who tagged along for the meeting, said, "We are one family. The discussion was entirely familial, not political. What is said within families should not be discussed publicly." Following the meeting, Yadav shared an emotional post on X, saying, "Na jaane kitni yaadein sang le aaye, jab wo aaj hamare ghar par aaye! Ye jo mel-milaap hai, yahi hamari saanjhi virasat hai (He brought back countless memories when he came home today! This togetherness is our shared legacy)." Speculations were abuzz until recently that Khan may quit the Samajwadi Party over alleged differences with Yadav.

Khan, however, has categorically denied making any such move.

Friday's meeting was the second major interaction between the two leaders in a month.

Earlier, on October 8, Akhilesh Yadav had visited Rampur to meet Khan and later said that if his party returned to power, all false cases against Khan and others like him would be withdrawn.

Yadav had also described Khan as a "strong pillar" and an "old tree" of the party.

Khan, the 77-year-old founding member of the Samajwadi Party and a close aide of the party's late patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, was recently released after spending nearly two years in jail in multiple criminal cases, including land grabbing, intimidation, and goat theft. PTI KIS SMV PRK